Windows as a service. You knew this was coming, right? When Windows 10 was released, the upgrade was free to qualified users -- specifically those with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 who upgraded within a year. But then what? Future upgrades were announced as being free forever on the upgraded computer. And what about new computers -- the ones that came with Windows 10 -- do users of those computers get free upgrades forever?
The easy answer is YES.
Microsoft Windows product manager for small and mid size business, Nic Fillingham discussed that this week, along with several other topics that will be of interest to small office users and home users.
First, let's start by defining the terms.
That means you pay for Windows once, period. This makes sense and it's what I hoped that Microsoft would do when Windows 10 was released, but I didn't expect that to be the final decision. This is good news.
Whether you're an enterprise user, a small-office user, or a home user, the system is designed to deliver updates on a predictable schedule.
The Windows Insider program has been around since the early days of Windows 10. The objective is to perform initial testing with a relatively small number of computers and then to widen the exposure.
One thing that's important to understand is this: Even slow ring releases shouldn't be used on a production computer -- and that means any computer that you depend on for daily work. Fast Ring users will see frequent (buggy) updates that are definitely not stable. Slow Ring users will see updates that are less frequent, but that have fewer bugs. The Release Ring is safe for production machines as long as they're not mission critical. The Current Branch ring is the version that is generally available -- that one that will be pushed out to most users.
The next version is called the Creators Update and it's available now in the Fast Ring of the Windows Insider program.
Enterprise users will receive the Current Branch for Business releases, which are typically about 4 months behind the Current Branch releases. If you don't want to receive the Current Branch updates, but would prefer to wait for the Current Branch for Business release, you can change some settings if you have the "Pro" version of Windows.
When the new version moves to the Current Branch, it is pushed out to some users, but you're be able to change that. Additionally, you can limit the hours during which Windows will install updates and possibly call for a system restart.
But take care in setting these hours. Specifying hours to avoid fine if the computer is on 24 hours per day, or at least some hours outside the time you have protected. But if you say that updates cannot occur between 8am and 5pm, but those are the only times that the computer is turned on, you'll have a problem because you're not giving the computer any chance to update and reboot.
Writing in the San Jose Mercury News, Troy Wolverton says "Net neutrality is under threat, but you can do something to defend it." Naturally, that caught my attention because Net Neutrality has been mis-characterized as a political issue, mainly by the telecoms and internet service providers who want to increase their profits.
The key, Wolverton says, is communicating with the Federal Communications Commission. Before the FCC can kill off the net neutrality rules, "it will have to go through a formal rule-making process," Wolverton notes. "That process -- like those before it -- will require the agency to solicit comments from the public. Those comments proved decisive in the past and could prove crucial in the future."
The article says that activists working on the issue have numerous suggestions, but the key is to "Make your voice heard. Hard as it may be to believe sometimes, policymakers do actually listen to the public." In fact, that's what happened that last time around. When it looked like net neutrality was dead, enough people made enough noise that the outcome was not the one that the telecoms and ISPs expected.
"In 2014, an appeals court struck down a previous version of the FCC's net neutrality rules," Wolverton wrote. "In trying to figure out how to respond to the ruling, the agency proposed to replace the defunct rules with new ones that would have gutted net neutrality by allowing broadband providers to create fast lanes on the internet for their content and those of their paid partners."
So calling or writing members of Congress and senators could help, but contacting the FCC directly would also help. "Call and leave a message for Chairman Pai," Wolverton says. "It's much easier for policymakers to change rules if they don't think anyone's paying attention." Also, sign petitions. "Fight for the Future has put together an on-line petition that people can sign to show their support for net neutrality."
For more ideas, see the article on the Mercury News website.
You might be surprised to learn that RadioShack still exists. The century-old company filed for bankruptcy protection more than 2 years ago and now it has filed again for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company used to be where hobbyists went to find parts, where batteries were available in every conceivable size, and where calculators or other electronics filled the shelves.
There are now just 1500 stores nationwide, 200 of those will close, and the company says it will evaluate the other 1300. A deal with Sprint has kept most of the stores open and the cellular service provider says it will turn "several hundred" RadioShack stores into Sprint stores. The exact number of stores and their locations was not discussed.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, RadioShack now has just 5900 employees.
If you've purchased something at RadioShack and want to return it, you can if the purchase was before March 2nd. Anything purchased after that date cannot be returned. And if you happen to have a RadioShack gift card, you must use it before April 7th.
A lot of information shared on Facebook is demonstrably false and the company has promised to do something to combat the lies. One part of the solution is warning labels.
The labels will be applied to items that have "disputed" content based on fact checking by the Poynter International Fact-Checking Network, which includes organizations such as PolitiFact and Snopes.com.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the organization has managed to be somewhat successful in fighting spam and scams, but battling fake news will take a more nuanced approach "because there is not always a clear line between hoaxes, satire, and opinion."
The problem is that satire, hoaxes, and opinions are often believed and spread, so Zuckerberg says the primary effort will be to provide more information from fact checkers rather than remove fake content.
Often stories from satire sites such as The Onion, The Borowitz Report, Satire Wire, and even (the obviously phony) "Faking News" from India are shared as being factual.
Clicking on a story that contains disputed information will trigger a warning from Facebook and links to fact checkers to explain why the content is phony.
